It's clear Whitehall had concluded this line was heading into the sidings and ministers have moved onto a new track in an attempt to sell the project.

Today, the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, will even admit, "the reason we need HS2 isn't for it's speed."

He will add: "the point about High Speed Two is that you won't have to travel on it to gain from the better transport system and economic growth it will support."

He will also attempt to take on critics who say the money would be better spent elsewhere on the transport system by claiming the government is already spending £24 billion on the roads and £37.5 billion on the existing rail network between 2014 and 2019.

It also attempts to counter the argument that London will get all the benefit and the line will suck the life out of the regions and into the capital.

It claims that Birmingham's economy will grow between 2% and 4%, Manchester up to 1.7%, Leeds up to 1.6% and Sheffield up to 3.2%.

The London economy by contrast will grow by only 0.5%.

The figures are based on the completion of the entire Y-shaped route in 2037.

How does it arrive at this figure?

KPMG suggests the extra capacity in the "classic" lines, the easier access to labour and a wider availability of suppliers will help companies in the producer and consumer services to compete more efficiently.

However, the public, many MPs and lots many business will need a lot of convincing before HS2 is firmly back on track.